Final Fantasy VII was released in 1997 and quickly became one of
the fastest selling video games in the world. It was the game that made
RPG's so immensely popular as they are today. With stunning graphics, CG
cutscenes that were groundbreaking at the time, and one of the most engrossing stories in an RPG, FFVII is
a true classic. What FFVII did for the RPG world was it revolutionized the
genre and set a new standard for the term "great RPG".

FF7 used the materia system, new to the Final Fantasy
series. Armor and weapons all had a different number of slots, and placing materia, jewels that had magical properties to them that allows your character
to learn abilities, inside the equipment would allow you to learn the skills
inside the materia. Certain combinations of Materia would yield different
results, like an All and a Lightning materia would allow your character to blast
Bolt attacks at all enemies. In this way, the Materia system let you mix
and match magic, creating your own combinations at will.

Undoubtedly
the main reason why most people bought PlayStations and one of the reasons why the PS became the
most popular system in competition with the N64, FF7 revolutionized every single
aspect of gaming. In terms of graphics, FF7 used beautiful pre-rendered
backgrounds and blocky polygon sprites(which were pretty good at the
time). The soundtrack was a pure delight, containing a wide variety of
styles and influences.

The gameplay
and story were also first-rate. The ATB(Active Time Battle) system used in
earlier FF's is still the same here, allowing you to have as much time as you
want to choose attacks or to make it more panicky and letting the enemies attack
even when you're not ready. Spanning across 3 discs, FF7 was a long and
enriching game, sure to drag the player in and not let go until the very
end. The plot was also very well done, containing some of the most
memorable characters and villains in the series.